Multiple-combination safety lock



Nov. 14, 1967 cs. LETT 3,352,134

MULTIPLE-COMBINATION SAFETY LOCK Filed Sept. 30, 1965 5 Sheets-Shet 1 Hr rys.

NOV. 14, 1967 I T 3,352,134

MULTIPLE-COMBINATION SAFETY LOCK Filed Sept. 30, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 2G. LETT Nov. 14, 1967 MULTIPLECOMBINATION SAFETY LOCK 5 Sheets-Sheet 5Filed Sept. 30, 1965 firrvs.

United States Patent 6 3,352,134 MULTIPLE-CQMBINATION SAFETY LOCK GuyLett, Paris, France, assignor to Societe Fichet, Societe Anonyme, Paris,France, a corporation of France Filed Sept. 30, 1965, Ser. No. 491,799Claims priority, application France, Oct. 7, 1964,

90,597 4 Claims. (Cl. 70-362) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLGSURE The presentinvention relates to multiple-combination safety locks and is moreparticularly directed to a safety lock of the kind comprising acylindrical barrel rotatably mounted in a body known as a Bramah or pumpbody under the control of a suitable key, the said barrel beingangularly lockable in the said body by a blocking cotter radiallymovable in the barrel against the force of elastic restoring means,between a blocked position in which it passes into a housing formed forthat purpose in the said body and a released position at which itescapes from the said housing, the said blocking cotter being controlledby a plurality of control members movably mounted in the barreltransversely with respect to the direction of introduction of the key,in opposition to elastic restoring means and in response to the contourof the longitudinal ridges of the said key, between a prohibitiveposition in which they maintain the blocking cotter in the lockingposition and a withdrawn permissive position in which the cotter canmove into the released position, the said barrel being provided on oneof its transverse faces with an actuating foot mounted in an eccentricposition on this face and projecting therefrom, adapted to actuate abolt or other member of the lock.

The present invention has for its object a number of improvements inlocks of this type, ensuring that they are at the same timeburglar-proof and of simple and economical construction.

The lock according to the invention is characterized in that the controlmembers are identical and are divided into two separate series, thecontrol members of one of the said series having their respectivepermissive positions located at the right-hand side of an axial plane ofthe barrel, while the control members of the other series have theirrespective permissive positions located on the left-hand side of thesaid axial plane, in combination with a key having two activelongitudinal ridges provided with cuts each arranged between two slots,each cut ensuring, when the key is in position, the displacement of oneof the control members towards its permissive position. These two seriesare preferably interleaved one with the other, advantageously followingan alternate arrangement.

By this means, the eventual picking of a lock of this kind wouldnecessitate the simultaneous use of two hooks,

the actions of which would cancel each other by reason of the alternatearrangement of the control members.

There is provided a member for the longitudinal locking of the barrel inthe pump body, the said locking member being movably mounted in thebarrel, in response to the introduction of the key. In accordance with apreferred form of construction, this longitudinal locking member isconstituted by one of the control members.

It is thus impossible to force the lock by cutting-oif the nose of thepump body in order to remove the barrel from it; in fact, due to thelongitudinal locking of the barrel in the pump body, the extraction ofthis barrel can only be effected with the key. An arrangement of thiskind is also advantageous during the fixing of the lock on the door; itprevents the barrel escaping from the pump body and thus avoids any riskof accidental dismantling and loss of parts.

According to the invention, an individual elastic restoring means isassociated with each control member so that each of these members actsindependently.

The present invention has also for its object a particular form ofconstruction of such a lock, according to which in particular, the webof the key associated with it has a transverse section in the form of aW, so that the corresponding entrance of the barrel advantageously formsa bafiie preventing the introduction of a hook. The construction of thelock according to the invention lends itself to the production of abarrel of high precision, of great strength, having a large number ofcontrol members in view of its dimensions, and possessing for thisreason a very high degree of safety. There is no risk of halfopening thelock and the whole of the possible combinations of a given number ofcontrol members can be employed.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one form of construction of thelock according to the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a front view of the barrel after removal of the frontplate, the pump body being shown diagrammatically in dotted lines roundthe barrel, partly in crosssection.

FIG. 2 represents a longitudinal section of the barrel, taken along theline IIII of FIG. 1 with parts broken away locally, the pump body beingshown diagrammatically in chain-dotted lines round the barrel.

FIG. 3 shows in perspective a control member according to the invention,assumed to be in the prohibitive position, the permissive position ofthis member being shown diagrammatic-ally in chain-dotted lines in thedrawing.

FIG. 4 represents in perspective and to a different scale, a furtherpartof the lock according to the invention.

FIG. 5 is a view of a key looking from above.

FIG. 6 is an end view of the same key.

FIG. 7 is to the same scale as FIG. 1 and shows a front view of anotherconstituent part of the barrel according to the invention.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the part shown in FIG. 7. In accordance withthe form of construction shown in these drawings, a multiple-combinationsafety lock according to the invention comprises a barrel 10 housed 6and 7), a bore 21 for the passage of an abutment shaft 22 (see FIG. 2)arranged longitudinally and symmetrically with respect to an axial planeof the barrel 10, and three drilled holes 23 for the passage of the pins15. Each plate 12 also comprises a main radial slot 24, flanked paralleland symmetrically by two narrower so-called guiding slots 25 which cutacross the groove 18, perpendicular to this latter. It further comprisestwo small grooves 26 per face, which are in line with each other andstart from the periphery of the plate to terminate close to the bore 21.Each plate 12 is finally provided on one face with three positioninglugs 27 and on the other face three blind holes 28, corresponding to thelugs 27 for engagement with the lugs of the next adjacent plate 12.These lugs may advantageously be frusto-conical.

The front plate 13 is similar to the plate 12, but it is thicker andfurther comprises two radial bores 29 each centered on a slot 25. Therear plate 14 is similar to the front plate 13, but does not compriseany diametral groove 18. On the other hand, the flanks 30 of its guidingpassage 19 are oblique and it is provided with a hole for fixing anactuating foot 31 in an eccentric position on the outer face of the rearplate. This foot 31 is in contact with a bolt or other lock member, soas to actuate this latter (not shown).

The front end-plate 16 comprises a guiding passage 19, drilled holes 23for the pins, blind holes 28, and two slots 30 facing the alignednotches 25 of the plates 12, 13 and 14. The rear end-plate 17 issimilar, but instead of a guiding passage, it comprises a bore 71 forthe passage of the base of the actuating foot 31.

When the barrel is mounted in position, the guiding slots 25 of theconstituent plates are aligned in two series, and in each series isarranged a catch 36 which rests at each extremity on a spring 37 housedin one of the holes 29 drilled in the front and rear plates. Theextremities of the catch 36 (see FIG. 4) having a small transverse size,are engaged in the slots 30 of the front and rear endplates 16 and 17;on the facing extremities of two catches 36 rests a support 38 havingthe general shape of a V, in the hollow of which rests a cylinder 39lying longitudinally to the periphery of the barrel in the main slots 24of the plates of this barrel. The cylinder 39 forms a blocking cotter inco-operation with a longitudinal groove 40 formed in the pump body 11.This groove has a triangular transverse section open towards thecylinder 39, the opening of this section being preferably greater than90".

In each groove 18 of the plates is mounted a sliding fitting or controlmember, which, according to the invention has the form of a cut-outplate 32. The plate 32, seen alone in FIG. 3, is limited laterally onthe one hand by two straight edges 33 having the same dimensions as theassociated groove and on the other hand by two curved edges 34 havingthe curvature radius of the barrel but spaced apart by a distance lessthan the diameter of the barrel, that is to say of the associated plate,so that each small plate 32 has a sliding play in the groove 18 of thisplate. Each small plate or fitting 32 has a substantially rectangularcentral opening 35. For the small cut-out plate 32A associated with theplate 12 nearest to the rear plate 14, the largest dimension of thecut-out part 35, that is to say that in the direction of sliding, isgreater than the corresponding dimensions of the openings in the othersmall plates. Facing this small plate, the pump body 11 is cut-out in acircular groove 46; the pump body 11 is also provided with a passage 60for the introduction of the key.

With each small cut-out plate 32, there is associated a restoring spring50 arranged inside the cut-out portion 35 parallel to the straight edges33 and supported on the one hand against the inner transverse edge 51outermost of the cut-out portion 35 and on the other hand on the bottomof the groove 26 of the associated plate, this groove, in co-operationwith the similar opposite groove carried on the adjacent plate forms ahousing for the spring 50. The springs are arranged alternately on eachside of the diameti'al plane of the barrel which passes through the axesof the main slots 24, so that the small plates 32 are in two separateseries, urged in the prohibited position towards the exterior of thebarrel, alternately on each side of this plane.

In this movement, they abut by the innermost internal transverse edge 52of their openings 35 against the abutment shaft 22 which passes throughall the small plates inside their openings.

Because of its special dimensions, the small plate 32A located oppositethe groove 46 of the pum body passes into this latter in the externalprohibitive position, for locking the barrel in the axial direction inthe pump body.

In addition, the corresponding key, shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 has aW-shaped web 20, the longitudinal edges of which are both operative,that is to say they comprise cutout portions in relief 41 between twohollow notches 42. There are as many teeth 41 as there are cut-outplates, and each tooth 41 is located at a well-defined distance orheight with respect to the axis of the web 20. One of the straight edges33 of each small plate 32 comprises two parallel slots 55 adapted topermit, each for its part, the reception of one of the catches 36 inco-operation with the slots of the other small plates or fittings,respectively on the left-hand side for some of these latter and on theright for the others, depending on the catch. As will be seen later, theposition of each slot 55 on the edge 33 is determined by the height ofthe corresponding tooth 41 on the key.

When the correct key is inserted in the barrel through the passage ofthe pump body until the extremity 61 of this key comes into abutlnentagainst the oblique sides 30 of the guiding passage of the rear plate14, the small plates 32' are displaced in turn from their outerprohibitive positions A and move towards a more internal per' missiveposition B in which they are supported against the corresponding tooth41 of the key; the position B is shown n chain-dotted lines in FIG. 3.This permissive position B in such that the various slots 55 are alignedin two series facing the catches 36. If a turning force is applied tothe key, the cylinder 39 tends to slide on the sides of the groove 40 ofthe pump body and, through the intermediary of the supports 38, appliesa force on the catches 36. By reason of the permissive position of thecut-out small plates 32, the catches 36 become engaged in the slots 55of these small plates, and the cylinder 39 can therefore escape from thegroove 40. The barrel 10 rotates iincii the action of the foot 31controls the opening of the If the key is not correct, the catches 36cannot be engaged 1n the slots 55 and hold back the supports 38; thelatter in their turn hold back the cylinder 39 which cannot therefore bewithdrawn towards the centre and remains imprisoned in the groove) ofthe pump body, thus preventing any rotation of the barrel 10, either tothe right or to the left.

During the closure of the lock, the springs 37 push back the catches 36which escape from the slots in the small plates 32 when the cylinder 39is again opposite the groove 40. After removal of the key, the smallplates 32 return to the prohibitive position in which they hold thecatches 36 and therefore the cylinder 39 in the blocked position.

It will have been noted that, in order to unlock the barrellongitudinally with respect to the pump body, it is necessary to use thekey in order to permit the corresponding small plate 32 to escape fromthe groove 46 in the pump body. 7

It should be observed that the slots 55 provide the possibility ofnumerous alternative forms of keys. This arrangement permits inparticular several types of keys to be employed: master keys, standardkeys, individual keys. It is also to be noted that the lock produced inthis way eomprises a number of identical parts and its production istherefore simple and economical.

It will of course be understood that the present invention is notlimited to the form of embodiment described above by way of example andwithout limitation, but includes all the alternative forms ofconstruction, combination, or utilization of its various parts. Thenumber of small cut-out plates for example may be as large or small asdesired.

What I claim is: I

1. A multiple combination safety lock of the kind comprising acylindrical barrel rotatably mounted in a socalled pump body under thecontrol of an appropriate key having longitudinal ridges, said barrelbeing adapted to be angularly locked in said body by a blocking cotterradially movable in said barrel in opposition to elastic restoringmeans, between a blocked position in which it passes into a housingformed for that purpose in said body and a released position in which itescapes from said housing, said blocking cotter being controlled independence on a plurality of control members movably mounted in saidbarrel transversely to the direction of introduction of the key inopposition to elastic restoring means and in response to the contour ofsaid ridges of said key, between a prohibitive position in which theyhold said blocking cotter in the blocked position and a withdrawnpermissive position in which said cotter can move into the releasedposition, said barrel being provided on one of its transverse faces withan operating foot arranged in an eccentric position on and projectingfrom said face and adapted to actuate a lock member, characterized inthat all the said control members have a generally similar contour andare divided into two separate series, the control members of one of saidseries having their respective permissive positions located to the rightof an axial plane of said barrel while the control members of the otherseries have their respective permissive positions located to the left ofsaid axial plane, said barrel being constituted by a stack of firstplates clamped .by longitudinal pins between a front end plate and arear end plate of the same diameter as said first plates, one of thefaces of each plate, with the exception of one of the outer plates,having a diametral groove in which is slidably mounted a small cut-outplate having a central opening and forming one of said control members,and a restoring spring associated with each small cut-out plate, saidspring being disposed inside the opening cut in said small plate andbeing supported, on the one hand, on the outermost inner edge of saidopening and, on the other hand, on the bottom of a fixed housing formedat least in part in the associated plate, said springs being alternatelyarranged on each side of the same axial plane of said barrel, incombination with a key provided with two active longitudinal ridgesprovided with teeth, each of said teeth being disposed between twonotches and ensuring the movement of one of said control members towardsits permissive position, when said key is inserted in the lock.

2. A multiple combination safety lock of the kind comprising acylindrical barrel rotatably mounted in a socalled pump body under thecontrol of an appropriate key having longitudinal ridges, said barrelbeing adapted to be angularly locked in said body by a blocking cotterradially movable in said barrel in opposition to elastic restoringmeans, between a blocked position in which it passes into a housingformed for that purpose in said body and a released position in which itescapes from said housing, said blocking cotter being controlled independence on a plurality of control members movably mounted in saidbarrel transversely to the direction of introduction of the key inopposition to elastic restoring means and in response to the contour ofsaid ridges of said key, between a prohibitive position in which theyhold said blocking cotter in the blocked position and a withdrawnpermissive position in which said cotter can 6 move into the releasedposition, said barrel being provided on one of its transverse faces withan operating foot arranged in an eccentric position on and projectingfrom said face and adapted to actuate a lock member, characterized inthat all the said control members have a generally similar contour andare divided into two separate series, the control members of one of saidseries having their respective permissive positions located to the rightof an axial plane of said barrel while the control members of the otherseries have their respective permissive positions located to the left ofsaid axial plane, said barrel being constituted by a stack of firstplates clamped by longitudinal pins between a front end plate and a rearend plate of the same diameter as said first plates, one of the faces ofeach plate, with the exception of one of the outer plates, having adiametral groove in which is slidably mounted a small cut-out platehaving a central opening and forming one of said control members, saidblocking cotter being a cylinder lying longitudinally at the peripheryof the barrel opposite a slot formed longitudinally in said body andbeing carried at each extremity in the hollow of a V-shaped supporthaving two arms, each of said arms resting on a catch lying parallel tothe blocking cotter over the whole length of the barrel, said catchresting on two springs housed respectively in the front plate and thenear plate of said barrel, each catch being guided by slots each ofwhich is formed transversely to the periphery of the plates and endplates of the barrel and in alignment with each other, the slots of oneplate opening into the associated groove, in combination with a keyprovided with two active longitudinal ridges pro- 7 vided with teeth,each of said teeth being disposed between two notches and ensuring themovement of one of said control members towards its permissive position,when said key is inserted in the lock.

3. A lock as claimed in claim 2, in which each small cut-out plate isprovided on one of its edges with two parallel slots, each adapted topermit, for its part, the reception of one of the catches, the positionof each slot on the associated ridge being dependent on the permissiveposition of the small cut-out plate, that is to say on the height withrespect to the axis of the key of the corresponding tooth on said key.

4. A multiple combination safety lock of the kind comprising acylindrical barrel rotatably mounted in a socalled pump body under thecontrol of an appropriate key having longitudinal ridges, said barrelbeing adapted to be angularly locked in said body by a blocking cotterradially movable in said barrel in opposition to elastic restoringmeans, between a blocked position in which it passes into a housingformed for that purpose in said body and a released position in which itescapes from said housing, said blocking cotter being controlled independence on a plurality of control members movably mounted in saidbarrel transversely to the direction of introduction of the key inopposition to elastic restoring means and in response to the contour ofsaid ridges of said key, between a prohibitive position in which theyhold said blocking cotter in the blocked position and a withdrawnpermissive position in which said cotter can move into the releasedposition, said barrel being provided on one of its transverse faces withan operating foot arranged in an eccentric position on and projectingfrom said face and adapted to actuate a lock member, characterized inthat all the said control members have a generally similar contour andare divided into two separate series, the control members of one of saidseries having their respective permissive positions located to the rightof an axial plane of said barrel while the control members of the otherseries have their respective permissive positions located to the left ofsaid axial plane, said barrel being constituted by a stack of firstplates clamped by longitudinal pins between a front end plate and a rearend plate of the same diameter as said first plates, one of the faces ofeach plate, with the exception of one of the outer plates, having adiametral groove in which is slidably mounted a small cut-out platehaving a central opening and forming one of said control members, and aweb formed on said key and having a W-shaped transverse section, theplates of said barrel being pierced with a guiding passage correspondingto said section, together with the front end plate, While the guidingpassage of the rear plate of said barrel is provided with obliquelateral sides for the abutment of said key, each plate of said barrelbeing provided on at least one of its faces with a positioning lug andon at least the other face with a blind-positioning hole correspondingto said lug, in combination with a key provided with two activelongitudinal ridges provided with teeth, each of said teeth beingdisposed between two notches and ensuring the movement of one of saidcontrol members towards its permissive position, when said key isinserted in the lock.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Donahue 70407 X Raymond 70364 XJacobi et a1 70364 Shinn 70369 X FitzGerald 70362 Falk 70369 Keil 70364Honger 70364 X Young et al. 70366 Diesel 70366 Spain 70421 15 MARVIN A.CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

P. TEITELBAUM, Assistant Examiner.

1. A MULTIPLE COMBINATION SAFETY LOCK OF THE KIND COMPRISING ACYLINDRICAL BARREL ROTATABLY MOUNTED IN A SOCALLED PUMP BODY UNDER THECONTROL OF AN APPROPRIATE KEY HAVING LONGITUDINAL RIDGES, SAID BARRELBEING ADAPTED TO BE ANGULARLY LOCKED IN SAID BODY BY A BLOCKING COTTERRADIALLY MOVABLE IN SAID BARREL IN OPPOSITION TO ELASTIC RESTORINGMEANS, BETWEEN A BLOCKED POSITION IN WHICH IT PASSES INTO A HOUSINGFORMED FOR THAT PURPOSE IN SAID BODY AND A RELEASED POSITION IN WHICH ITESCAPES FROM SAID HOUSING, SAID BLOCKING COTTER BEING CONTROLLED INDEPENDENCE ON A PLURALITY OF CONTROL MEMBERS MOVABLY MOUNTED IN SAIDBARREL TRANSVERSELY TO THE DIRECTION OF INTRODUCTION OF THE KEY INOPPOSITION TO ELASTIC RESTORING MEANS AND IN RESPONSE TO THE CONTOUR OFSAID RIDGES OF SAID KEY, BETWEEN A PROHIBITIVE POSITION IN WHICH THEYHOLD SAID BLOCKING COTTER IN THE BLOCKED POSITION AND A WITHDRAWNPERMISSIVE POSITION IN WHICH SAID COTTER CAN MOVE INTO THE RELEASEDPOSITION, SAID BARREL BEING PROVIDED ON ONE OF ITS TRANSVERSE FACES WITHAN OPERATING FOOT ARRANGED IN AN ACCENTRIC POSITION ON AND PROJECTINGFROM SAID FACE AND ADAPTED TO ACTUATE A LOCK MEMBER, CHARACTERIZED INTHAT ALL THE SAID CONTROL MEMBERS HAVE A GENERALLY SIMILAR CONTOUR ANDARE DIVIDED INTO TWO SEPARATE SERIES, THE CONTROL MEMBERS OF ONE OF SAIDSERIES HAVING THEIR RESPECTIVE PERMISSIVE POSITIONS LOCATED TO THE RIGHTOF AN AXIAL PLANE OF SAID BARREL WHILE THE CONTROL MEMBERS OF THE OTHERSERIES HAVE THEIR RESPECTIVE PERMISSIVE POSITIONS LOCATED TO THE LEFT OFSAID AXIAL PLANE, SAID BARREL BEING CONSTITUTED BY A STACK OF FIRSTPLATES CLAMPED BY LONGITUDINAL PINS BETWEEN A FRONT END PLATE AND A REAREND PLATE OF THE SAME DIAMETER A FRONT END PLATE AND A REAR OF THE FACESOF EACH PLATE, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ONE OF THE OUTER PLATES, HAVING ADIAMETER GROOVE IN WHICH IS SLIDABLY MOUNTED A SMALL CUT-OUT PLATEHAVING A CENTRAL OPENING AND FORMING ONE OF SAID CONTROL MEMBERS, AND ARESTORING SPRING ASSOCIATED WITH EACH SMALL CUT-OUT PLATE, SAID SPRINGBEING DISPOSED INSIDE THE OPENING CUT IN SAID SMALL PLATE AND BEINGSUPPORTED, ON THE ONE HAND, ON THE OUTERMOST INNER EDGE OF SAID OPENINGAND, ON THE OTHER HAND, ON THE BOTTOM OF A FIXED HOUSING FORMED AT LEASTIN PART IN THE ASSOCIATED PLATE, SAID SPRING BEING ALTERNATELY ARRANGEDON EACH SIDE OF THE SAME AXIAL PLANE OF SAID BARREL IN COMBINATION WITHA KEY PROVIDED WITH TWO ACTIVE LONGITUDINAL RIDGES PROVIDED WITH TEETH,EACH OF SAID TEETH BEING DISPOSED BETWEEN TWO NOTCHES AND ENSURING THEMOVEMENT OF ONE OF SAID CONTROL MEMBERS TOWARDS ITS PERMISSIVE POSITION,WHEN SAID KEY IS INSERTED IN THE LOCK.